Concerned over the increasing dependence on imported timber for various purposes, the government has formed a committee to regulate the import of timber from different countries.

The Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) has decided to form the working committee to ensure that the market of imported timber from various countries, mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Denmark and Australia, among others is properly regulated.

The committee simultaneously will seek to ensure that locally produced timber is made available through sustainable harvesting of forest products, said Prem Kandel, joint-secretary at the MoFSC.

According to Kandel, timber worth around Rs 4 billion is imported every year.

“Concerns have been growing about unregulated market and poor quality wood. The new standard will control the illegal and unregulated market of imported timber,” Kandel added.

Demand of wood for various purposes, including housing construction and furniture among others, is already huge, and the country will need more wood and timber when the reconstruction of houses, buildings and other infrastructure damaged and destroyed be the earthquakes last year picks up.

According to a recent report of the National Reconstruction Authority, the body overseeing reconstruction works, the demand of wood stands at 4.64 million cubic metres while the supply is around half at 2.56 million cubic metres.

The Federation of Community Forestry Users’ Nepal, an umbrella organisation of over 1,800 community-based forestry user’s groups across the country

has been consistently calling for a proper policy to allow the sustainable use of the forest products for domestic consumption and reduce the country’s dependency on the imported timber.